Religion Blog

ATLANTA — A battle over Bibles is brewing in Georgia, where the governor said yesterday that the
books should be allowed to be placed in the bedside-table drawers at state-owned vacation
properties after an atheist’s objection led to their removal.

Ed Buckner, an author and former president of a group called American Atheists, said he
complained to state officials last month after finding nine Gideons Bibles in the three-bedroom,
state-run lodge he was renting in northern Georgia.

Buckner, 67, of Atlanta, said yesterday that Georgia was violating the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion.

The governor’s office said the Bibles were removed from lodge rooms and cabins at state parks in
an effort to avoid litigation as it reviewed the issue.

After consulting with the state’s attorney general, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal ordered that the
volumes be returned.

“These Bibles are donated by outside groups, not paid for by the state, and I do not believe
that a Bible in a bedside-table drawer constitutes a state establishment of religion,” Deal
said.

Buckner said he may sue Georgia over the issue. “It’s outrageous that anybody thinks this is
acceptable,” he said.

Malcolm Arvin, a Gideons spokesman, said the evangelical Christian group has provided Bibles for
state lodges around the United States. He knew of no other state where they have been
challenged.